Monday, January 12, 2004

And on any given day this could be any one of us who has a husband, wife, son or daughter down range.

The sharp edge of that possibility leaves one raw after a while

The conversation fallen Auburn soldier Jesse Mizener had literally moments before his death in Iraq is still bringing comfort to his young widow, his words offering a final goodbye to his family.

“He told me that he loved me so much and couldn’t wait to come home to me,” said Auburn resident Nicole Mizener. “Then he said, ‘Nicole, you sit those babies down and you tell them that their daddy loves them.’ He said, ‘You promise me you’ll do that?’ I said, ‘Of course, I do all the time. They know.’”

The call came at 6:14 a.m. Wednesday, less than two minutes before the mortar attack that took Mizener’s life, Nicole Mizener estimated. The couple spoke regularly on the phone during the soldier’s deployment about their children — Gia, 2, Eve, 1 and Jesse Alexander Jr., less than two months old.

“It was the best conversation I’ve ever had,” Mizener said. “It was the kind of conversation where you just had an opportunity to say everything that you’ve ever wanted to say and take back anything you had said that you regretted.”